[aprssig] Re. Another Clueless Balloonist...

[Keith VE7GDH]

Jason KG4WSV wrote…

> The problem is not the path, it's the 10s beacon rate on each balloon, with 2 balloons up at the same time…

I think that I would disagree on the path. Yes, the 10 second beacon rate is the biggest problem, but with virtually every digi out to the balloon's horizon firing off with each beacon, it is taking up two time slots, so is effectively beaconing at a 5 second rate, and if any digis didn't hear the original beacon, many will hear copies from all of the fill-in digis or copies from the WIDEn-N digis, which also respond to WIDE1-1. Under some circumstances, that will be the equivalent of a 3 second beacon rate.

Almost nothing that flies should use a path of WIDE1-1. The exception would be devices that are capable of doing profile switching… changing the path above a certain altitude and changing again on the way back down. For high altitude balloons, no path is needed at all when there at the edge of space. It's only at the start and end of the flight that any path is needed.

73 Keith VE7GDH
www.ui-view.org